354 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



been frequently taken and sent off with other fish to Liverpool. I have 

 received in all three specimens, the general appearance and measurements 

 of which are very similar, and answer closely to the figure aud descrip- 

 tion given in Couch's ' Fishes of the British Islands.' All three were females, 

 and each had a small roe. The livers were very large and white ; the air- 

 bladder very tough and strong. Inside, the fish has a thin lining, almost 

 black, which, near the gills, runs into a steel-blue. The outward appearance 

 is as given in Couch. Scales large : colour grey, darker above the lateral 

 line, going into brown, with a tinge of violet on the back and tins. Length 

 about 24£ i'i- Weight, 5* lbs., 6 lbs. 11 oz., and 5 J lbs. The length of the 

 long and short rays of the vcntrals of the three specimens, measured from 

 the root on the underside, are respectively 7 in. and ;*>.{ in., 7^ in. and 53 in., 

 and 7^ in. ami 5$ in. (Couch gives 8 in. and 5i in. for a tisli two feet in 

 length). One I had boiled ; it was white and flaky, and tasted something 

 like cod, but not so good. It was better cold and soused in vinegar. The 

 fishermen like it split and dried. I could not find anything to show what 

 they had been feeding on ; the stomachs were all empty and turned inside 

 out. After reading Couch's description I thought the circumstances of its 

 capture at this season and in these waters worthy of record. To-day I hear 

 that it is still being caught, and seems plentiful. — P. M. C. Kermode 

 (Ramsey, Isle of Man). 



Unusual abundance of Dog-fish on the Coasts of Scotland. — 

 With reference to Mr. Warren's notes on the unusual numbers of Dog-fish 

 on the coasts of Sligo and Mayo (\>. 269), it may interest him and others to 

 learn that the same abundance all along the west coasts of Scotland, and 

 especially in the N.W., has been observed. Can nothing be done to 

 destroy these useless (?) voracious fish. Query : are they really useless, or 

 cannot the carcasses be used as manure, or sold by the cartloadf or some 

 other purpose ? On the N.W. coast of Scotland aud elsewhere they are 

 knocked on the head and thrown back into the sea. In Lewis, I believe, 

 they are used as manure. The utilisation of our sea produce and improve- 

 ment in our fisheries is one of the subjects of the prize essays of the 

 coming International Fisheries Exhibition in London. Can no one treat 

 of the utilisation of Dog-fish; development of the Conger Eel fishery; or 

 utilisation of waste fish. At Strome Ferry many Congers are caught and 

 sent up to London market. Congers swarm in every sea-loch in the west 

 of Scotland, and Lobsters can be bought for Gel. each, or less, at lots 

 of unfished places, where the supply is greater than the demand. There 

 are miles and miles of coast unfished for want of steam communication 

 with the markets. I may instance forty miles of the N.W. coast of 

 Sutherlandshire, including Cape Wrath. Surely it is the duty of a paternil 

 Government to develop such industries and cheaper food. — J. A. Harvie 

 Brown (Dunipace House, Larbert). 



